Re: Huon Pine
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Huon Pine
- From: J* A* <j*@nemo.mech.eng.usyd.edu.au>
- Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 11:22:47 +1000 (EST)
At 16:57 4/05/99 GMT, you wrote:
>I have the opportunity of a 'Huon Pine' - Lagarostrobus franklinii.
>which so far as I know, is a Tasmanian native that was just on the
>verge of extinction. I can't find any info on it - anyone out there
>with more gen? Rarity and curiosity value aside, does it make a
>decent garden plant?
I have a little experience with this tree, in that friends were given one on
the birth of their son Huon. So it is available in nurseries round here.
It died (the tree, not the baby). So it may be difficult to get
established, to judge from this limited sample. It would however be an
excellent plant to have -- but you'll have to wait a few centuries before
you get a decent-sized tree.
I have of course seen many of them in their native habitat, SW Tassie, which
is probably close in climate to SW England, only wetter. They are by no
means "on the verge of extinction", although they were very heavily logged
from about 1800--1950 for their wonderful timber (used in shipbuilding,
furniture, etc), and there are much fewer of them than there once were.
Because they are *very* slow growing, no attempt has been made to regrow
them for timber. However, most of those remaining are in the large South
West National Park, which means they should be pretty safe. They seem to be
regenerating well in areas that were once logged out, such as along the
Franklin and Gordon Rivers (an area that was once threatened with inundation
by a hydro dam, but is now a World Heritage Area).
John.
